Expert processing the traditional way

I was brought up processing pictures in the darkroom – and still remember the excitement of producing a print in the traditional way – though was never what you might call skilled in interpreting a picture, in those days, in the way I would aim to do now, in the digital era. For that reason, I was mightily impressed by an article that was brought to my attention this morning by a colleague in the L&CPU.

The link shows iconic pictures that have been processed by Pablo Inirio, in the darkroom, a before and after shot with his processing “recipe”. It’s well worth a look – especially for those determined few who insist that images should be shown as they come off camera with the minimum of corrective work. It perhaps also supports my belief that “traditional” sections in competitions and exhibitions should stop trying to prescribe what we can and cannot do to an image. Thirdly, I wish more digital workers would learn from past masters what processing is really about…not a one fix solution but a series of steps that aim to interpret the picture in the strongest way possible and to realise the potential in an image.

Enjoy!

http://petapixel.com/2013/09/12/marked-photographs-show-iconic-prints-edited-darkroom/